Hell to Pay
by Vampire Queen of NOLA
Summary: When Marcel discovers Klaus' greatest weakness, he attempts to exploit it by kidnapping Caroline- but things don't quite go as planned.


"You've made a mistake, Marcellus." The hybrid's mouth settled into a tense line, a nerve in his jaw twitching from the sheer rage coursing through him. He could hear her, shouting to be let go, her fire undiminished and flaring as she made demands from wherever they were keeping her- if there was a line one did not cross with Niklaus Mikaelson, it was endangering the woman he loved. Beside his former friend- former son- his sister stood with dagger in hand, watching him almost fearfully. Klaus fixed his stare upon her, and it was enough to make her take a step back.

"Marcel, just let her go. He's here now, just- _just let her go."_ Her grip on the dagger tightened when she saw her brother's eyes flicker to it, suddenly very aware that she shouldn't have brought it. If Klaus managed to get through to her, he could forcibly take it and shove it through her heart. In all honesty, she'd told Marcel he shouldn't have done this. Lockwood was a damned idiot, and in his heartache, had decided to rant to the vampires about how Klaus had destroyed his relationship with his girlfriend. Pretty little blonde Caroline.

"No."

_"She's just a girl!"_

"I said _no."_ The vampire cracked his neck, eyes trained on the hybrid that had fallen so very _far_ from glory. Love was a vampire's greatest weakness, and he was using it to his advantage. Before Rebekah could further argue her case, he'd whistled, calling forth the first group of vampires to begin surrounding Klaus- Klaus' response was to chuckle humorlessly.

"That's it? _This_ is your army?" Marcel crossed his arms over his chest as the other man shook his head, seemingly in disbelief. "I'll give you one more chance to fix this, and perhaps I will leave your 'army' intact. Let her go." But Marcel only whistled a second time, redoubling the numbers that had first been called forth. Even this didn't cause Klaus to falter. They had his queen. Perhaps Caroline didn't love him, but right here, right now, in the heart of the French Quarter, he was going to defend her life with his own. She could hate him with a passion, and he'd do the same thing, time and again.

When they struck, he was prepared. No matter their strength, these vampires were no match for him- and they never had a chance of being even remotely close to a danger. It was almost too simple, killing the first few that dared come after him, and if he weren't so angry, the hybrid might actually be amused. Right now, the kingdom meant nothing. Marcel himself meant _nothing_. His concern was only for the young vampire's safety, to get her out of here, back to Mystic Falls where she would be safe. If he had to rip his own sister to shreds to ensure that happened, he would.

_No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold- nothing satisfies me but your soul._

Klaus raised his arms, a clear invitation for them to just _try_ to break him, a growl rumbling in his chest as warning. They could surrender. _Marcel_ could surrender.

Marcel raised his own hands in a signal, and suddenly, there were chains slung around Klaus' wrists, yanking him backwards. Something he had _not_ been prepared for. The moment his back slammed against the concrete, he was back on his feet- quick, but not quick enough. They were on him before he could fully regain himself, lashing out with their hands, knives, whatever they could hurt him with, they were using. _Caroline._ Through the crowd, he caught a singular glimpse of blonde as his sister turned to vanish behind Marcel, making his stomach turn with the sheer cowardice of his own flesh and blood.

The betrayal burned harsher than every blow rained down upon him, and even as his knees buckled, Klaus could only think of _her_. Would he really fail her? Would he let his whore of a sister and her little _toy_ continue to hurt her?

_"Klaus!"_

_No._ Her voice was enough to snap him out of the stunned state he was in. She needed his help, needed _him_. Marcel would not hold her any longer. Slowly, his head lifted, showing a vast transformation- his eyes burned gold, the veins under them pronounced and blackened, and a distinctly animalistic snarl fled his throat as he fixed his gaze on Marcel. The message was clear- he, and everyone here, would die.

Rebekah was nowhere to be seen, but it didn't matter. She couldn't hide forever. In a surge of strength, he ripped the chains from the hands of the vampires behind him, falling into a frenzied bloodthirst that left him nearly blinded. He didn't know how many he killed- didn't care, barely noticed the blood. His target was the boy he'd raised into a man, the man he had sired into a vampire, that had _betrayed_ him on deeper levels than he could even begin to describe.

_"MARCEL! COME AND FINISH THIS!"_

But the coward would not step forward. He still hid behind his army, his army that continued to fall at the hands of the hybrid he had crossed for the last time. He tore through the remains of this so-called army with ease, necks snapping, bodies crashing to the floor, the walls, wherever he threw them; one thing broke through the hybrid's rage, the thing he had been expecting but almost hoping wouldn't happen.

"ENOUGH!" The remaining vampires began to break rank, falling back away from Klaus as his fingers dug into the windpipe of his most recent victim. He raised his head, meeting Marcel's wary gaze. As he watched, the vampire dropped to a knee, his voice shaking. "I hereby pledge my allegiance to you. The girl goes free. You have the keys to my kingdom. It's yours." Klaus allowed his gaze to divert for a moment, searching the whole of the area around them, something shifting in his eyes before he looked to his fallen enemy once more.

"You crossed a line you should never have crossed with me." His voice was quiet, almost pitying; the kneeling man suddenly realized that Klaus could still very well kill him despite his surrender, and he rose, his arms out to his sides.

"Then kill me. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"It is. Yet… per the rules of engagement, you have surrendered, and thus, I cannot." For a moment, silence reigned supreme, the two men staring each other down as the vampires looked on- and then, suddenly, Marcel gasped in pain, his eyes wide. A slow grin crept across the hybrid king's lips as realization began to dawn on the younger vampire, the agony clear on his face. "But she can." Marcel suddenly dropped as a horrific ripping noise tore through the air, revealing the petite blonde behind him, holding his still-beating heart. She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes falling to the heart before dropping it onto the dead man's motionless form. "That was a stunning entrance, love."

"Yeah? Well, thank Rebekah. She let me out." Caroline released a sigh, grimacing and leaning down to wipe her bloody hand off on Marcel's jacket. From what Klaus could tell, she was unharmed, but the thing that inspired his smile was more the fact that not only had Rebekah let her out- Caroline had taken vengeance into her own hands.

"I'll have to remember that. Shall I take you home?" This much left Caroline avoiding his gaze, almost shyly. She glanced over her shoulder to where Rebekah stood against a wall, and shook her head.

"No. I was actually partway here when they kidnapped me. Which, by the way, is _so_ not happening again. I was… leaving Mystic Falls." When she looked back, Klaus seemed surprised, but he soon stepped behind her to put his hands on her shoulder and turn her to face the watching vampires.

"_Well then._ Everyone, bow to your new queen."


End file.
